'Unaccountable Congress' author Joe DioGuardi signs copies of his book at Pantano office event.

By Verne Strickland / August 17, 2011

At the grand opening of the Pantano for Congress office at Wilmington this past week-end, Pantano faithful were treated to a full bill of fare, including patriotic speeches and singing, a pig-picking, a celebration of Ilario's fortieth birthday, and a book signing by Joseph J. DioGuardi, author of "Unaccountable Congress: It Doesn't Add Up".

DioGuardi, a former New York Congressman and Certified Public Accountant, served two terms on the House Government Operations Committee and one term on the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee. He currently serves on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Audit Committee of several corporation.

I interviewed him during a few spare moments as he signed copies of his new release at the Pantano for Congress event:

One of my claims to fame is that I am the first practicing CPA ever elected to the U.S. Congress. I donated my books to Ilario's campaign for interested people in attendance here, and I was very pleased with the demand for the signed copies.

 

It’s time people understood that there is a phony way we do the books in Washington, so that we don’t really know about the true size of the national debt, and that’s what I came here to speak about. 

I know that Ilario is a conservative, and I wanted to be here with him in order to make the point that we have to stand up to this group in Washington that’s lying about the real size of the national debt. It’s much more than $15 trillion. That’s just the bonded debt. If we used the generally accepted accounting principles as I have, it’s in the neighborhood of $60 trillion.

That’s what’s killing America. Andrew Tyler Frazier in 1790, and here’s what he said about democracy: “A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy may be in jeopardy of collapsing due to loose fiscal policy.” 

Does that sound familiar? Well, we have to be careful, because we have a lot of loose fiscal in policy, and I don’t want to see America continue down the road to ruin. 

VS: What are you doing now?

I’m a human rights activist. I made 30 trips to the Balkans to help the Albanian people avoid the same fate of the Bosnians. I testified against Melosovich in The Hague, and we got him indicted as a war criminal. I’m at this time a practicing certified public accountant, so I’m a consultant, have been on the boards of corporations, but I’m not a paid lobbyist, nor do I want to become one. 

And I write, and I speak, and when I see the opportunity to get my message out, I accept that opportunity. 

The bottom line on my message is to stop spending money we don’t have, borrowed from countries we don’t trust, like China, and we could be giving up the American dream that brought my father here as a poor farm boy from Italy in 1929 at the age of fifteen. 

So when I see people like Ilario, whom I met in New York, and he asked me to come down here to this rally, this grand opening of his office, I gladly came. 

I said, “You have values, you have energy, and you have the firm conservative beliefs and core values that the country needs. I’m disappointed you did not win in 2010, but I’m here for you, like so many who believe in you, and you’ll be the last man standing in the 2012 race for Congress from North Carolina’s Seventh District.”

DioGuardi's attack on Congress' clumsy and embarrassing handling of the federal government's books is attracting praise from the likes of William E. Simon, former of the Treasury: "Joe DioGuardi has written a courageous and practical book about the phony budgeting process Congress uses to sustain its financial profligacy. He has both a keen understanding of its accounting gimmickry, and some excellent suggestions about how to straighten out our budgetary tangle."

Unaccountable Congress was originally published in the United States by Regnery Gateway, 1130 17^th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036.

COMING SOON ON USA DOT COM

At the Pantano for Congress grand opening of its new office, I talked with Jude Eden of Leland, who wore a Pantano campaign tee shirt emblazoned with the words: “I am a cancer surviving, Jewish female, Marine combat veteran for Pantano.” You'll want to get to know this interesting lady. 


Also interviews with Diane Ellis, Pantano for Congress operations manager, and other highlights from this event.